When does the milk start to come In? UPDATE! P2

[happy appy]

I have a maiden mare at day 313 and I was just wondering when the milk in some form starts to come in so that you can express it?

 

[Miniv]

A MAIDEN mare is a crap shoot. You may not get milk from her until her foal is born!

An experienced brood mare can begin to offer liquid anywhere from 30 to 14 days prior. Once you get liquid, it's the sticky thickness to watch for.

 

[happy appy]

Well we are up to day 320 and still no milk. Her udder fills about 3/4 full and then stays like that for a couple of days and then goes back to 1/2 full. around day 305 she went off her food for a couple of days, I had the vt out and she could find nothing wrong with her. Then again this past week, around Friday, she went off her hay again. She is eating some today. I have found that when she goes off her hay you can really see the baby moving. Legs and head sticking out the side. She has dropped twice now(a little more each time the baby moved lots and she stopped eating) and is very pointed on the bottom of her belly and the baby has moved back to fill in more of her belly just before her udder. We are very excited now. Just waiting and watching. I have her on mare stare so that all my family in other provinces can watch.

 

[ShaunaL]

How exciting! Good luck with your upcoming baby! With Arabians we had many maidens that foaled with very small bags and seemingly no milk but those babies always managed to get full bellies quickly. Looking forward to baby pictures!

 

[Miniv]

Being a maiden, all of these feelings inside of her are brand new, so it's understandable that she would react. Are you giving her any grain? The last part of a pregnancy (and while the mare is nursing) is the more important time to feed grain.

 

[happy appy]

Yes she gets breakfast and dinner. I have been feeding her a mare/foal feed since the second trimester and up'd it for the last one. That is what the vet suggested.

 

[Miniv]

Thanks for answering...... I didn't mean to sound condescending or anything, just wanted to pass the info on........especially for other folks who may be new to breeding.

Personally, with not being able to see her in person, your little girl sounds a lot like the maiden mares WE'VE had. I don't envy you.

 

[Relic]

l'm finding this year really weird for bags...hardly any have them to speak of from maidens to some of the older experienced mares. Todays foal 321 days came before the milk. l'm wondering if it has something to do with the crazy weather swings we've been having. l was really worried as this last one was a maiden and just nothing till baby was about a half hour old then OMG what a relief her milk came in

 

[happy appy]

Thanks for answering...... I didn't mean to sound condescending or anything, just wanted to pass the info on........especially for other folks who may be new to breeding.
Personally, with not being able to see her in person, your little girl sounds a lot like the maiden mares WE'VE had. I don't envy you.

I should of added a smilie face to my reply, I didn't take it as anything other than passing on info. lol

I really enjoy reading info on this site, lots of good replys get passed around.

 

[Becky]

I occasionaly have mares that I can't express anything from up til the time they foal. Have one of those now. She is 336 days today and although she has a good size udder, I've yet to be able to express a drop.

 

[happy appy]

Well it's day 332 today and still not about to get any milk. She is getting very relaxed in the back end and her vulva is turning red inside instead of the light pink. No cow paddies though.

 

[Jill]

We've had 9 foals so far, so not nearly the experience that many others here have had. However, I can say it varies greatly in our mares. My mare that foaled Bliss on 3/29, I checked her 3/28 in all ways. Milk (all I could get was a tiny drop that looked and felt like water), not a very big udder at all, vulva pale, hind end not loose. FIRST time I ever had one foal w/o me there. I figured we had a good ways to go. Got home from the office early Monday afternoon on 3/29 and went out just to peak at her. I'm sure I must have had eyes that looked like a cartoon character when I saw a DRY baby standing by her. Must have been born in the morning, much to my surprise but so thankful all went well.

 

[PNARanch]

I just had an experienced mare foal yesterday morning. Her bag was only half full the night before but she's full now and that little guy is staying full. Have a maiden that is maybe a quarter full and is 342 days. Kind of worried about her milk situation. I have never had my mares not bag up ahead of time. This year has been kind of strange in a lot of ways.

 

[happy appy]

Sugar has also gotten very grumpy at feeding time. We have up'd her feed by double about 2 weeks ago and the vet doesn't want me giving any more right now. She always has good quality hay in front of her but she still is grumpy. She has been on turnout all day and has ben grumpy most of the day. Head tossing and giving little bucks in her pen. I have her on marestare and the nice people over there have been watching her today because of her odd behaviour today. What do you think?

 

[weerunner]

Could you give us your marestare link so we can all help watch

Amanda

 

[happy appy]

Sure, here it is.

http://www.marestare.com/fcam.php?alias=happyappy

She is outside on the camera there during the day and inside at night. For a little while in the mornings I let her run around in the riding ring while I clean out stalls.

 

[happy appy]

Here is sugar at day 336. Her udder is so full that I can't even give her the udder scratches that she loves every night between the teats.

I forgot to add that there is still no milk.

 

[HGFarm]

She is getting pretty full though. Mine that just foaled early this morning literally had NOTHING and not even a bag... just loose skin hanging there a little. Her milk came in AFTER the foal arrived!! My neighbors mare didnt have enough milk and despite all the vet did for her, she never got enough. She had a little, but they had to bottle feed him night and day and then after a couple of months, cut down to 3 times a day or so I believe. She had some milk, but never got enough for the foal to survive on his own. So really hard to tell. From the looks of your mare though, I would not worry.

 

[Becky]

I forgot to add that there is still no milk

With an udder like that, she has milk. Even if you can't express it, it's there. That udder isn't just full of air!

I occasionally have mares that I can't express a drop out of until they foal. But if they have a big, full udder, I don't worry about it at all.

My guess is that you'll be having a foal tonight and she will have plenty to feed it. I only worry if there is no udder development!